Austin area civic-minded app developers and entrepreneurs are invited to compete in the City of Austin’s GigaTECHs Competition. The competition is part of a broader nationwide initiative, led by D.C-based U.S Ignite, to encourage next-generation Gigabit Internet applications that provide transformative public benefit. Competitors will have the opportunity to win $38,000 in prize money to seed and support the development of applications that focus on opportunities in local transportation, education, clean energy, health and safety (TECHs). The prize money is made possible by U.S Ignite and the City of Austin’s Communications and Technology Management Department.

Prize sponsors:

Challenge and Event Sponsors:

Promotional Partners:

Time: 7 mins to present and 3 mins Q&A from judgesNote: This will be a strict time and you will not be able to go over.

Slides: The final slides/links are due on August 29th at midnight. Please email these to : happiness.kisoso@austintexas.gov

Presentation/Live Demo: Please feel free to showcase/live demo your entry within that span of time given. You will have internet and computer access and a projector will be available as well. If you need anything beyond the usual presentation setup, or feel you may need additional assistance, please let us know by August 25th.

Ultimately, your demo and presentation is up to you, but we recommend that you cover the following:

Team members and roles

Brief description of your entry, what opportunities it will create/problems it will solve, who it will benefit, how it will impact the community, etc...

You will be judged similar to the past judging. Competition judges will reference these evaluation criteria and scorecard during their evaluations. Because these judges are experts in their field, they'll also leverage their experience and professional judgement when making their evaluations.

Key insights
You should craft your entry so that it aligns with what is being sought, as described in the criteria within the Judging Scorecard.

To be eligible to particpate in this competition, a majority of your team members, 51% or more, must reside in the Austin metropolitan area (Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis and Williamson counties). You may submit an idea, even if you're not in the Austin metro area, but your submission will not be judged and you will not be eligible for any prize money.

Yes, you may. However, if selected as a finalist, you may only move forward with the app idea that was selected. If two or more of your submissions are selected as finalists, you must select one to move forward with. The same team may not move forward into the finalist round with two or more app ideas.

No, you do not. You can be an individual sole proprieter or existing corporation - regardless of entity structure or lack thereof, you can be eligible to receive the financial prize. However, you will need to register as a vendor with the City of Austin to be eligible to receive any funding.

You should submit app concepts with a focus on: Transportation, Education, Clean energy, Health and Public Safety (TECHs). Submissions that do not align to these focus areas will lose points during the judges' evaluations.

If you have a question not answered in the FAQ, we recommend that you post it in the Forum where someone will respond to you. This way, others who may have the same question will be able to see it. Alternatively, you may contact the competition coordinator, Happiness Kisoso at Happiness.Kisoso@austintexas.gov